Instead of a Box of 2015 Topps Series 1

So, let me say, I like 2015 Topps Series 1. In fact, I like it a lot. While the usual annoying things are all over the set (variations, parallels, worthless relics, bad auto selection, etc, etc, etc), I still think this is the finest base set Topps has put out since I returned to the hobby.

In fact, I liked the set so much, I sat here for over an hour last week with a Jumbo Hobby Box in a cart at Blowout trying to convince myself to pull the trigger. Instead, I bought a base set from a breaker and the stacks of cards you see below. I got all these for substantially less than the box would have been.

Like a lot of old time set collectors, I bitch a lot about the direction Topps has taken the base set and Heritage and I still have my qualms. I’m told the hobby has passed me by. I guess it has. I know that I will never have the same connection with a set I buy whole as one I put together by opening packs or, like my vintage team sets, acquire as a card here and there. So be it. I’ll miss opening packs. I’ll miss trading with the friends I made online when trying to build a new set. When I get to sort my new vintage cards though, I’ll get over it and I’ll get over it quickly.